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Beijing

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Beijing
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Beijing Travel Guide

  • About Beijing
Layered with tales of emperors, uprisings, grandeur and hubris, Beijing is an extraordinarily irresistible place to visit. It remains a momentous city with some extraordinary historical sites, although the billions invested in the run-up to last decade’s Olympics have left it as a thoroughly modern metropolis too.Top-quality hotels and restaurants abound, the subway system is world-class and the architecture, in many cases, is eye-catchingly contemporary.Most visitors, however, come for the city’s more traditional attractions. Beijing’s vast centrepieces are the royal palaces of The Forbidden City and the open expanse of Tiananmen Square. Together, they straddle the dynastic era of ancient empire and the revolutionary rule of Chairman Mao Zedong. Further afield, The Temple of Heaven and the lakeside Summer Palace – both beautiful in their way – give further flavour of the city’s past.On a very different note, a network of traditional hutong alleyways still showcases a unique inner-city atmosphere of slow-paced living. And most famously of all, the snaking Great Wall of China, set in rumpled green hills, is an easy day-trip from Beijing itself.As capital of the most populous country on the planet, the city is also a wonderful place to sample the myriad different cooking styles for which China is known. Whether you’re braving the regional delicacies at Donghuamen Night Market (fried scorpion, anyone?), feasting on Peking Duck at a high-end restaurant or trying anything from Sichuanese to Uighur cuisine, the general rule is the same: in Beijing, food is taken seriously.On a cultural level, there’s also much to explore. From opera to acrobats, art museums to classical dance and rock music to antique markets, this is a city where change is constant, buildings stretch ever higher and day-to-day life dizzies and dazzles. Some 21.5 million people live in Beijing – it’s safe to say they have a unique home.
  • Beijing History
China’s capital for the best part of 800 years, Beijing has been at the centre of empires and harsh political ideology, and is emerging as a fast-modernising metropolis.Beijing became China’s capital in 1421, a few decades after the Mongol dynasty had been ejected and the Ming Dynasty established. The city withstood incursions and fire, and held onto its capital billing throughout the subsequent Qing dynasty.But after the imperial regime collapsed in 1911, Beijing suffered, as did the rest of China, from destructive factionalism. The Japanese invasion in 1931 was followed by civil war. In 1949, Mao Zedong’s communists prevailed and the People’s Republic of China was founded with Beijing regaining capital city status.The first decade or so of Mao’s rule stabilised a fearful, humiliated nation, and strong advances were made in industry, agriculture, education and health care. Beijing’s Old Town suffered though, as most of its walls, gateways and decorative arches were levelled to make way for new roads.From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, it was the turn of the people to suffer as Beijing’s ill-fated political programmes, most infamously the Cultural Revolution, saw persecution, violence and famine spread like wildfire.Many Chinese art forms struggled to survive. Travelling theatre, music and dance groups were created to project the party’s message. Plays written before the 1950s, films with human interest and the Beijing Opera were suppressed, and their creators persecuted.Mao’s death in 1976 saw the first shoots of nascent political freedom, but they culminated in the tragic events at Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Any hint of political freedoms were swiftly curtailed, but new leader Deng Xiaoping continued in his quest to open China up to the world economy until his death in 1997.Today China’s economy (now the world’s second largest) continues to grow at an incredible rate. Beijing is home to an increasingly affluent middle class and a rapidly changing (if smog-ridden) skyline.
  • Did you know?
At one point, around 9,000 eunuchs lived in the Forbidden City. Beijing has had numerous other names over the last few millennia and was known as Peking before Beijing. Its famous Peking University still uses the former name though. Beijing means ‘northern capital’.
  • Weather in Beijing
Beijing has a humid continental climate with distinct four seasons.Spring (March to May) sees temperatures climb steadily to 20°C (68°F) in May. The city is at its best in April and May when the sun is out and the mercury isn’t overbearing.Summer (June to August) is hot and humid. The searing heat of summer can make sightseeing tortuous when the temperatures rise above 30°C (86°F) and busy pavements make it feel hotter still. July and August are also the wettest months. Pack an umbrella with you – it can shield you from the sun and also protect you when it rains.Autumn (September to November) is marked by crisp, sunny days accompanied by tree leaves turning red and gold. This is also a good time to visit Beijing.Winter (December to February) is cold. The biting winds can be extreme as temperatures drop below zero.

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